


Fall

by 2MusicLover2



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Heroes and Villains, M/M, Superheroes and supervillains, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2MusicLover2/pseuds/2MusicLover2
Summary: Klancy and MacKenzie were bitter rivals... arch-nemeses... enemies... they took every chance they got to fight each other.But it hasn't always been that way.Klancy and MacKenzie were trained to be heroes together.Oh, how the times have changed...
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)





	1. Prologue

The manor was far from being new—it was one of the first buildings built when the war had ended—but it wasn’t old to the point of disrepair, either. The bricks on the exterior had chipped in multiple places, and the windows and corners of the house leaked a little whenever it rained, which was pretty frequently in the town of Baron Lake. The grounds were in a perpetual state of muddiness, resulting in the children’s despisal of outdoor training, and the only reason none of the flowers in the flowerbeds had drowned was that Eve nursed them back to health three times a day.

All of this was a point of contention between Klancy and MacKenzie. It wasn’t until years later, however, when Klancy learned that they actually had very similar views of what their life at the manor had been like, but MacKenzie had made a sarcastic comment about it once and had enjoyed the resulting argument from Klancy not understanding him. From that point forward, every interaction between the two boys included some kind of argument, all thanks to MacKenzie making sure he found a way to get on Klancy’s nerves.

It was almost hard to believe that what had started as petty arguments between two little boys had now turned into two men, fighting for their lives on the roof of the same manor where it had all started, vacant except for the two of them.

Neither said a word to each other; they had long since gotten tired of those long speeches before every fight and the antagonistic comments gritted out through their teeth as they each battled for the upper hand. If it was anyone else they were fighting they would be all for it, but this was them. At the end of the day, it wasn’t what they had said to each other that would count towards their victory. It was the amount of blood spilled, how long it would take the other to recover, which one was the last one standing, and something about this time told them both that it would be the last. Only one of them would be left in the end, maybe even neither, but definitely not both.

There was something almost poetic about the fact that this downward spiral had started with the two of them, on these very grounds, and it was about to end the same way. Nothing and no one was there to hold them back. Baron Lake was empty except for the two of them.

MacKenzie had always been the stronger of the two—confidence always seems to do that—so Klancy wasn’t even slightly shocked when MacKenzie had overpowered him and sent them both tumbling over the edge of the roof. They barely fell three feet before MacKenzie caught himself in the air, manipulating it so he could stand up and dangle Klancy over the edge by his shirt.

“Dramatic much?” Klancy gritted out through his teeth as he rolled his eyes, not even fighting against it anymore. He knew how to play with MacKenzie’s emotions; the more helpless he acted, the more likely it would be that MacKenzie took pity on him and let him go free. “Come on, the suspense is killing me. Get on with it so you can go back to your heroic, saving-the-world bullshit. Rid the world of me once and for all.”

And just like that, there was solid ground under Klancy’s feet. Well, solid air, so he wasn’t quite in the clear yet.

He lunged forward, jumping at MacKenzie and knocking him back and causing them to fall to the ground, albeit slowly. Klancy let out a guttural scream—of course, MacKenzie would want to end this on his terms without any dramatic mid-fall fights that would be documented in movies and paintings for years to come.

As soon as the swamp-like ground was back under Klancy’s feet, he found himself stumbling backward, fresh blood started to stream from his nose. For a fraction of a second, he thought of letting his power surge through him and ending it right then and there, but that wouldn’t be any fun. When he won it would be without his power, or at least, without his first power. The others were free game.

Klancy raised one hand towards the sky, the other clutching his nose and healing it before it too raised to the sky. The ever-present clouds overhead darkened and the rain started pouring, a stark contrast to the simply annoying mist that had been falling from the sky previously. Electricity crackled across the sky and down into his hands forming a spear almost two feet taller than him.

“Who?” MacKenzie asked, shock clear on his face as he uttered that single word, the first sound he had made since he arrived at the manor that day.

With a smirk, Klancy thrust the spear towards the sky, which again burst into the colorful light-show as more lightning traveled across the bottoms of the clouds and sparks rained down on them, sizzling in the cold puddles of rain.

“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Klancy asked, and he pointed the spear at MacKenzie.

It ended all too quickly. Before even a full second had passed, MacKenzie was on the ground, clothes smoking and body twitching as small bursts of the electricity continued to travel through him.

Klancy took his time in walking to the lifeless body as the movements slowly spaced themselves out until there were no more and there was no denying that MacKenzie was—

“Bastard,” Klancy said in disgust as he stood over the remains. He spat down on MacKenzie’s face, watching as his saliva mixed with the rainwater and dripped down a cheek towards the grass.

He knelt down and gently moved the head into his lap, stroking one hand through the rain-soaked hair as the other traced its thumb back and forth along a cheekbone, smearing away the remaining spit. His eyes fell closed as he finally let his power coarse through him and through his hands, into the corpse.

“I can do more than just take life and powers, you know,” he murmured when he knew his power had taken hold and MacKenzie had taken in a shuddering breath. “I can give it, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this about 2 or 3 years ago and have just been slowly finishing it. I'll post a longer author's note at the end of the last chapter that I currently have completed so as to avoid spoilers and whatnot.
> 
> Please leave kudos if you enjoyed and make sure to leave comments, I reply to them all! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	2. Part I: Klancy

_I’m only playing the part of the villain you expect me to be…_


	3. Chapter 1

“Why aren’t you dead yet?”

Normally, this question would be spoken with more hatred, especially if I’m the one saying it. Well, normally as of late. Back then, I was a very different person, and in this instance, the question was asked with caution, fear, and a hint of wonderment. The gentle reply did nothing to help, however, and only sent me into a state of panic. I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the years.

“I have special abilities, just like you.”

“You kill people too? Am I dead?”

Now, in my defense, she did say she had abilities just like me, so it was reasonable for me to assume they were the same as mine. The laugh she gave me was not warranted.

“No. I can keep people like us from using their abilities. If you come with me, I can help you. I come from a place full of kids like us, who can do things others can’t do. I can keep you from using your abilities until you learn to control it yourself.”

As you know, I agreed, like an idiot. What eight year old goes with some strange girl who he’s never met before and whose name he doesn’t even know? Me, that’s who. And yes, it’s not like I was without protection, I could have killed her without even lifting a finger, but she had the power to keep me from doing that, so, really, she was still better off than me were we to have gotten into a fight.

We didn’t.

She brought me to a train station, where I learned her name was Rachel and I had another panic attack because I had never been so close to so many living and breathing people before. I kept thinking I might accidentally kill them, but it never happened, and we made it all the way from Greenmoor to Baron Lake without a single death in the entire six and a half hour train ride, and we got off the train to meet you and of course your first thought was ‘Oh, this kid has only just started being around people without them dying off around him, let’s give him a hug!’ and if it wasn’t for the fact that you were pinning my arms to my sides, I wouldn’t have let my lack of power keep me from killing you and I would have strangled you. Alas, I was probably too weak to do any real damage back then, but a boy can dream.

“Mac, give him some space. The poor thing isn’t used to people yet.”

 _Poor thing_. That’s why Rachel and I weren’t closer. She may have kept me from killing off everything around me, but she always treated me like a wounded animal and I couldn’t stand it.

“Well, he isn’t going to _get_ used to people if we all avoid him,” you said with that horrific thing you call a smile.

But, I was a foolish little thing back then, and that smile somehow managed to calm me down enough to huff out a single laugh and stop worrying about death.

“See,” you said, all haughtily like young boys do when they manage to be right about something for once. “He’s already getting used to me enough to laugh. He didn’t laugh for you, did he? That’s because he already likes me better.”

“Whatever,” Rachel replied, and I completely agree with her, now that I think about it. You were an arrogant prick—hell, you still are—and I was just too blinded by the slightest dream of friendship to realize it. “Mr. Odis is probably wondering what’s taking us so long, we should get back to the manor.”

I had heard about manors… on t.v., in books, in the newspapers… they’re not all they’re cracked up to be and I was severely disappointed when that little horse-drawn carriage brought us up to what the tabloids call our ‘childhood home’. I’d have to strongly disagree with that name, but it is what it is.

“Manor?” I asked, and I can proudly say that my voice was filled with every ounce of disdain tiny little me could muster. “It doesn’t look like much of a manor.”

“Of course it’s a manor!” you said. You sucked at sarcasm back then. Still do, actually, I’ve just learned how to tell when you’re attempting it. Obviously, I didn’t quite understand yet back then.

“That shack cannot be worthy enough to be deemed a manor,” I argued. “It’s falling apart!”

“Well, now, you can’t just look at that! It’s huge—four stories, see!—and the grounds account for half of the land in this town. Therefore, it’s a manor.”

“I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of ‘manor’.”

You laughed and I couldn’t have been more angry with you. It was the second time that day that I wished I was capable of killing you, but Rachel just had to keep her hold on my power.

“Come on,” you said, still wearing that horrific smile on your face as you waved your hand at me to follow you, and then you threw your arm over my shoulder when I didn’t immediately obey. “I’ll take you inside and give you a tour of our lovely home and I’ll take you to meet Mr. Odis—he’s basically our dad, just without the whole ‘shared DNA’ thing.”

And just like that I was being forced to follow you around, having you point out all of the different rooms and such, and introducing me to everyone else who I would be living with. You with your ever-present dimples and tan skin and curly blond hair straight out of a comic book or a teen rom-com movie. Alas, I was only eight, and you were only eleven, and these things weren’t exactly on my mind at the time.

Still, my mind wasn’t the same as the average eight-year-old’s mind. I was worried about death, both my own and other’s, and getting food, and staying hidden. Although, it’s not like I have any normal children to compare my childhood thoughts to. We were all a bit missed up. Probably why you and I ended up fighting each other until one of us couldn’t stand practically every day once we got older.

Actually, you’re right, it was most likely because I killed all of our so-called ‘siblings’ and our ‘father’ that we ended up fighting, but is that really my fault? You know what, I’m going to prove it to you. They all had it coming to them, and so did you, for that matter.

That very first time I met Mr. Odis, you want to know what he said to me?

He said “Hello, there, young man. You must be Klancy.”

And I looked at him, completely and utterly confused, and then he sent you out of his office with a pat on the head and congratulations on a job well done so that he and I could have a little chat in private.

“My name isn’t Klancy,” I said to him as soon as you had left the room.

“I’m sorry, young man. What is your name, then?” he asked me, all falsely kind with that sickly-sweet smile—probably where you learned it from—as he leaned back against his desk and stared down at me.

“I don’t have a name, sir.” There I went, being all kind. If only someone had thought to return the favor—no. You didn’t, your mind was just so warped that you believed that everything you have ever done was the kindest and most righteous thing possible.

“Well, everyone needs a name,” that vile and despicable man said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “When I found your hospital records from your birth, the name on your birth certificate was Klancy Lucas. Is it okay if we use that as your name?”

I shrugged. “I guess.” What else was there to say? _No, sorry, sir, but I think I’d rather just continue living without a name. I’ve done it for eight years already, what’s a few more?_

“Okay,” he said, nodding his head slightly. “Now that that’s settled, let me fill you in on a little on who I am and what we do here.

“My name is David Odis, but you can call me either Mr. Odis or Father. This manor and the grounds it’s on has been passed down on my family for many generations and now I am using it to train young people like you. That is, children who were born with special powers and abilities that, until now, were the things of legends. Here, you will train with the other children to hone your powers until you have complete control, then, when you become old enough, you can use your powers to help people in different ways.

“Not only will you train your powers, we will also be training your mind. Schooling will be unnecessary for you and the other children here, as you may put the normal children at risk and you will learn everything you need to know here.

“Now, if you have any questions, any at all, you can ask either me or one of the other children. MacKenzie and Rachel have both offered to show you to your room. You will have about an hour to settle in and then they will come to retrieve you again before dinner. I hope you find everything here to your liking.”

That’s all I got. A speech on what _Father_ was trying to do with all of us and then I was sent to my room and told that you would come get me for dinner. I never even got a choice on going there in the first place. I was completely fine living on my own, scavenging to survive and avoiding people, and then you and Rachel came in and ruined that.

Also, my room was the _shed_. I was an eight-year-old boy, forced to sleep in a shed to protect the safety of my ‘brothers and sisters’. A shed! Like, seriously, child abuse much? How has none of the media or general public realized the crap that we went through growing up?

We were just children, and that was all taken away from us. Why couldn’t you see that? Why do you still insist on being Mr. Odis’s poster-child for Heroes? If you would have just _helped me…._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos if you enjoyed and make sure to comment, I always reply! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	4. Chapter 2

If someone were to ask me what it took to be a supervillain, or even a superhero for that matter, I would tell them: step one is to get cursed with having some kind of power, step two is to meet some old guy who decides to take you under his wing and train you up a bit despite him not knowing anything about powers, step three is to use this rigorous training that caused tears and deep-rooted mental issues to help people or hurt them, whichever you prefer.

The training was excruciating. Maybe not so much for you; you were always the favorite, both in the eyes of Mr. Odis and of the public and media. That doesn’t bother me though, because with Mr. Odis’s favoritism you got to pick who you trained with and for some reason that was always me.

I’m not sure if anyone’s ever told you this, but beating someone up every day, both physically and mentally, is not the key to that someone’s heart, especially if that someone is _me_.

Shut up, I don’t want to hear it, I hate you and nothing will change that.

You used to go easy on me, or at least, you did that first somewhat sunny day we had since I had arrived at the manor and Mr. Odis decided it was a perfect time for hand-to-hand combat training. I was a quick learner, though, and even though you had years of experience on me, I won.

But you acted like it didn’t even faze you and you just gave me a high-five and smiled at me while you pretended you weren’t in any pain. Eve had to heal your dislocated shoulder and broken nose and all she had to heal on me was a couple of bruises along my ribs.

It definitely taught you that you could go all out in fighting with me, though, and the next time we had hand-to-hand combat training our match lasted the longest out of everyone’s because we were so evenly matched.

I still won, and that’s when it started to bother you, which you can’t even deny because that night I woke up and decided to take a walk and I found you practicing and taking your anger out on a punching bag. In my opinion, normal kids don’t take their anger out on a punching bag, but I guess that’s just one more way Mr. Odis messed us up.

Maybe the man was actually smart about something, though, and the reason you and I were held to such high standards when we were training together was because he knew exactly where we would end up and he wanted to prepare us for it. It would explain so much, but also if we hadn’t fought each other growing up then we probably wouldn’t be fighting each other now. You’d be off saving the world and I’d be hiding away in a cave or something somewhere, far away from civilization and perfectly content with my life. See, you can’t be deprived of human contact if you’ve never been around anyone to experience it.

We were pretty evenly matched after that, almost seemed like we took turns winning. Maybe that’s why Odis hated me so much: I was able to beat his favorite.

Stop lying, he hated me and we all knew it. I was blamed for every little thing that went wrong. Even when I started learning how to control my powers, he refused to believe or accept it and put me under so much strain that I was unable to learn the full extent of my powers and completely control them. He didn’t let me learn that my powers didn’t just take away life, they allow me to control the flow of life around me and take and give it as I choose, if I choose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos if you enjoyed and remember to comment, I always reply! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	5. Chapter 3

You once asked me who hurt me.

Actually, you asked me that more than once, it was quite a frequent question.

But I never actually answered you.

Those doctors, who just let my mother die and then tried to kill me when they realized what I was, they were the first to hurt me.

Rachel hurt me when she treated me like a wounded animal, completely incapable of doing anything on my own.

Vivianne hurt me when she let me talk to my mother.

My mother hurt me when she said she never wanted me and I was a pathetic reason for her to die.

Eve and Lakesly and Michael and Maria and Chris all hurt me when they showed that they were terrified of me and refused to go near me.

Mr. Odis hurt me when he told me I could be a superhero and then shaped me into a villain for all of you to fight against so he could be entertained.

You hurt me.

You hurt me when you smiled at me and gave me the false hope of having a friend.

You hurt me when you helped me with everything at the manor only to act like I was a stain on the tapestry of your life once we were older.

You hurt me when you left me alone at that god forsaken place with a man whose sole mission was to turn me into something to put against you and the others.

You hurt me when you blamed me for what happened that day, like it couldn’t have been stopped by any of the others.

You hurt me when you went on to tell the world that I had always been a troubled child and you promised to stop me, once and for all.

You, MacKenzie Julius Anderson, hurt me in more ways than anyone has ever been hurt before.

And I’m done being hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos if you enjoyed, I appreciate them very much, and I always reply to comments! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	6. Chapter 4

I woke up that day feeling happy. I had slept well, all good dreams with no disturbances, I was able to keep my power contained with ease, the sky only had a few clouds in sight, and then I went to breakfast and I remembered you had left. For good.

So contemplated it as I ate my slightly burnt toast and then I decided to leave too. There was nothing left for me at that place once you had betrayed me and left.

A single duffle bag, that’s all of the belongings I had. I remember when we packed up your things, you had boxes upon boxes of stuff plus a large suitcase and a backpack.

No one stopped me as I walked down the drive and out the front gate. Why would they? They all hated me and constantly questioned why Mr. Odis even kept me around other than for me to be your _pet_.

You had never told me where you moved to, but at that point I didn’t really care. You clearly didn’t want me anymore, so I wasn’t going to waste my time with you and I planned on taking a bus out of the city to get a fresh start.

But while I was waiting at the bus stop in front of the hospital, I watched a nurse who must have been ending her shift as she looked both ways, saw no cars, and then crossed the street.

Then, a giant red pickup truck sped around the corner and hit her, speeding up afterwards, probably to avoid getting caught.

There was blood everywhere, and I felt like vomiting, but I stopped myself from doing so and instead ran up to her mangled body and brushed her blood-caked hair out of her face, away from her neck, checked for a pulse and found none, grabbed her wrist to check again and found none.

She was dead.

And then something strange happened and when I lost control of my power, it felt different, and no one in that small crowed that had gathered around me died. Instead, the dead woman gasped in a shuddering breath and I suddenly felt a pulse beating rapidly under her skin.

I quickly regained control over my powers and called for a doctor, just as some were stepping out of the hospital to come to the rescue of their coworker. I followed them inside and waited patiently for her, my head pounded as my thoughts all jumbled together with the realization of what this meant, and then I heard more shouting amongst the doctors, terms I didn’t know, and then they were all rushing into the room in which she was being treated.

Curious, I got up from my seat and followed them, ignored the protests of the receptionists, nurses, and doctors, and I entered that room just as a doctor was calling out time of death.

They had let my power go to waste. I had revived that woman, she could have survived, should have survived, but they just let her die and I was furious.

I lost control and everyone, _everyone_ in that hospital paid for it.

No one said anything to me as I walked out. Not like they could have, every last one of them was dead on the floor. I stepped through the puddles of blood still on the street and picked my duffel bag back up, then headed back to the manor.

I must have been a sight, walking through those streets covered in blood and visibly angry. People ran away from me rather than let me walk past them and cars sped up as they past me only to slow down again when they deemed themselves at a safe enough distance.

It was an outdoor training day and everyone stopped when I walked towards them on the grounds.

“Mr. Lucas, do you mind enlightening us as to where you have been?” Odis said in that infuriatingly condescending voice he always used when talking to me.

“MacKenzie’s gone so I found no more reason to be here and I left. No one was stopping me so I figured you’d be okay with it,” I replied. “Then, as I was waiting for the bus to take me out of town, I watched a woman get hit by a car and die. You want to know what happened then? I brought her back to life. All this time, you’ve been telling me that I could never be anything good, all I ever cause is destruction, and all along I’ve had this amazing ability to give someone life. You are a terrible human being and I refuse to let you ruin another child.”

And then I killed them all. Rachel didn’t have time to stop me, the blast of energy I released was so powerful that they were on the ground in less than a second.

And then I left, and you found out a week later when you came back to get some shirt or other that you had forgotten in your packing, and you found them all dead on the muddy grounds, unmoved from where I had left them, and now we’re here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are appreciated and I reply to all comments! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	7. Part II: MacKenzie

_Sometimes letting go isn’t easy, but it’s necessary to move on in life…._


	8. Chapter 5

He and I had been inseparable from the moment we met. Something about him just made me instantly attached and I couldn’t get enough of his presence. I constantly wanted to be near him, talking to him, making him smile and laugh. I had no idea why, still don’t for that matter, but if we were together I was happy and if he was happy, I was even happier.

It was fine like that for a few years, but then one day when I was sixteen and he was fourteen, during that short period of time when we were only two years apart in age, Mr. Odis brought me into his office and told me he was worried about Klancy. He had been starting to realize that Klancy didn’t exhibit the same personality traits or morals as the rest of us and he was worried Klancy might end up going dark. He told me to keep an eye on him, keep him from doing this.

But there was this divide between Klancy and I that was preventing me from doing as I was told. He would barely admit that we were friends and he wouldn’t tell me anything that was on his mind, good or bad. I needed to build a bridge across that divide to gain his trust, get closer to him, and I had a slight idea how.

Vivianne didn’t want to help me at first. She hated using her powers to simply reawaken the dead and let them have control over themselves, it was too risky in her mind. She wanted control over them to keep them from going rogue. But, I eventually talked her into it and she went to his room, claiming to be able to help him.

They went into the city together, to the cemetery, and Vivianne reawakened Klancy’s mom so he could finally meet her and maybe get some closure.

When they got back to the manor, Klancy went straight to his room, and I commenced phase two of my plan: tell him that it was my idea and he would be so thankful that I would gain his trust.

But he was crying and I had no idea what to do because I didn’t expect this to happen, and so I sat next to him on his bed and hugged him until he calmed down enough to speak.

“I met my mother,” he said. “She told me she wished she never had me.”

That was not what I expected and I could do nothing but hug him tighter and say “Well, I’m glad she had you. You’re better than her and if she can’t realize how amazing you are then she doesn’t deserve to have been able to raise you.”

And then he looked at me for a moment, tears in his eyes and still streaming down his face, then he kissed me. Even though my plan didn’t turn out exactly the way I expected, it didn’t fail, and I had gained his trust, so I kissed him back.

We made a relationship out of it and I realized I loved him. We were together from that moment until the day I moved out when I was eighteen. I wanted so badly to take him with me, but Mr. Odis said no.

“It’s safer with him here and you out there. You have become blinded by him and can no longer see the thing he is becoming.”

I admitted it. Klancy has managed to fool me and I had put him on a pedestal in my mind where he was a gift from the heavens, so I left without him, without even saying goodbye or telling him my new address or letting him help me move in like we had planned.

I wanted him out of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are always appreciated and I reply to all comments! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	9. Chapter 6

Not even a week later I had thought that I couldn’t possibly continue to go on without him. I thought to myself that Mr. Odis was wrong, Klancy wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t his fault his power was so destructive, he was always working to gain control over it. So I went back, planning to get Klancy and bring him to my apartment with me and Mr. Odis could be as mad as he wanted but it wouldn’t change my mind because I loved Klancy and no one could stop me from getting him out of that toxic environment.

He was gone, though, and he had left behind the dead bodies of Mr. Odis and everyone else at the manor. Mr. Odis had been right. Klancy had turned into a monster.

I vowed that I would avenge the deaths of everyone I loved, and the only way I could think to do that was to eliminate Klancy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are very much appreciated and I reply to all comments! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	10. Chapter 7

He came back to Baron Lake two days after I made a public statement on the news about what had happened at the manor and how I would avenge everyone he had killed. I came back from picking up groceries and there he was, sitting on my bed with his legs crossed in front of him, wearing his skin-tight black lycra uniform that we all had to wear when doing any kind of training at the manor, with his metal mask hanging of the clip on his belt. I still have no idea how he got in, or how he even found out where I lived for that matter.

“Why, hello there, darling,” he said with a cheeky little smirk on his face. “I hear you wanted to see me. Miss me, did you?” He didn’t give me time to answer. “I also hear that they’re calling me The Pale Horseman now. I s’pose that means I should update my wardrobe, make it white instead of black, but white’s never really been my color—doesn’t look too good with my complexion, see—it suits you much better.”

I had no idea how to respond, but I knew I wanted to fight him, so I dropped my groceries and went to fight him, but he grabbed my arm and burned it—Michael’s power—then slipped past me and out the front door. As soon as I recovered, I followed after him, but it was too late, he was already gone.

The next time I saw him was almost three years later. I had been searching for him, showering the news for any signs and coming up with nothing, and then all of a sudden he was back in Baron Lake, sitting next to me in the movie theater.

"Hey, babe, just like the old times, huh?” he said, grabbing a fistful of my popcorn. I didn’t even notice him arrive, he was just there all of a sudden.

I ended up dragging him outside into the alley. He went with me so easily, but as soon as we were outside, he started throwing punches. I tried to stop him by making a wall with the air in front of me, but he stopped me from being able to use my power.

He knocked me unconscious and I woke up in the hospital.

From then on, his visits became much more frequent, although still random. I couldn’t figure out a pattern to it, other than that he was showing up when I least expected it. Even when I started preparing myself for the constant possibility of an attack, he managed to catch me in whatever moment I was off my guard.

He was playing with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are always appreciated and I always reply to comments! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


	11. Part III: Reality

_A simple change in perspective can change an outsider’s entire perception of the story…_


	12. Chapter 8

MacKenzie had wanted to go with Rachel to find the boy, he had begged Mr. Odis to let him, but the old man deemed it too dangerous as no one was sure what the extent of this boy’s abilities were. They didn’t know if Rachel would be able to stop him from using them and they didn’t know how long it would take before someone in his presence died.

So MacKenzie was forced to wait at the Baron Lake train station, as part of the ‘Welcoming Committee’ as Mr. Odis had dubbed it.

Meanwhile, Klancy was sitting, alone as usual, in a dark alleyway between two trash cans. He struck a match against the pavement until it lit, then carefully lit the wrappers and trash he had bundled together as fuel and held his hands over it for heat, occasionally letting the tip of his finger graze the flame. He startled when he heard something move at the end of the alley, standing up and immediately narrowing his eyes at the auburn-haired girl who was staring right back at him.

“Why aren’t you dead yet?” he asked, his voice monotonous and dry from lack of use.

“I’m special, like you,” the girl replied, then she held out a hand towards him.

He stared at the offered hand for a second before looking back up into her eyes, filled with pity, and emotion he had yet to understand.

“You kill things, too? Didja kill me?”

Her laugh echoed through the alley and he scowled, but she remained unperturbed.

“No, silly. I can stop people from using their abilities. That’s what you have: a special ability unlike anyone else. If you come with me, I can help you learn how to control it. Where I come from, there are all kinds of gifted children like us. What do you say?”

Klancy cocked his head to the side and looked at her through narrow eyes before he finally said “Alright. Promise not to let me kill anyone?”

“Of course,” the girl said. “My name is Rachel. What’s yours?”

Klancy laughed. “I don’t have one. No reason for one, no one can talk to me anyways.”

“How do you know how to talk so well?” Rachel asked, curiosity marring her features.

“T.V.” Klancy answered. “Taught myself to read, too, although I’m not too good at that one.”

“Well, now you can get better. We can teach you!”

“Okay,” Klancy said, done with the conversation and hoping she would stop talking.

It didn’t work. They walked through the streets, Klancy feeling powerless without that buzz in his veins of the life all around him, and Rachel chattering on about this and that, explaining to him all of the other children at this place she came from, and all of their powers and personalities.

When they arrived at the train station, Klancy’s throat constricted, and his stomach felt like it was trying to escape from his body in any way possible. There were people everywhere, and not a single one of them was dropping dead as Klancy drew their life out of them. They were all going about their normal business, completely unaware of any threat looming behind them.

Klancy stopped in his tracks, but Rachel kept going a few paces before she realized he was no longer by her side.

“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked back at him.

Klancy didn’t reply, and she purses her lips then walked back over to him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him along behind her.

“You won’t kill anyone. You can’t when I’m around, I won’t let you,” she said, as if that settled things.

Klancy wasn’t entirely sure he trusted her.

They boarded a train, Klancy’s chest still felt unbearably tight as Rachel continually rambled on to him. He ignored her in preference of staring out of the dirt-fogged window at the scenery as they passed: fields full of animals, little villages, cities suffering from pollution, rolling hills with little streams and ponds breaking up the monotony of the endless green. It was all either green, grey, or blue, but Klancy had never before seen so much of it. He was used to people and animals dropping dead and plants withering away in his presence.

He didn’t sleep, but eventually Rachel did and as soon as he saw her nod off next to him, his breaths became short and quick. If she was asleep, how could she stop him from killing anyone? He quickly reached over and shook her awake, not wanting to risk anything.

“What was that for?” she asked groggily, her words much slower now that she was tired.

“My powers. You need to protect them,” Klancy answered, fidgeting in his seat.

Rachel shook her head. “I’ve taken them. You won’t get them back until I give them back. You have nothing to worry about.”

Klancy took a deep breath and released his grip on Rachel’s arm, reluctantly letting her fall asleep. He still couldn’t shake the feeling of lurking danger throughout the entire train ride, although nothing happened.

Rachel slept all the way until the conductor announced they had arrived at Baron Lake Station, and she stood up, motioning for Klancy to follow her. The disembarked the train and Rachel led Klancy through the station to a circle of benches surrounded a fountain with water spewing out of the top of an umbrella under which a young couple was depicted kissing. On one of the benches sat a young boy with golden blonde hair curling loosely around his ears and the sides of his face. Upon seeing Rachel and Klancy, the boy stood up and pulled Rachel into a hug which she quickly returned. Once he released her, he turned to Klancy and pulled him into a hug, causing Klancy’s muscles to tense and his breath to stop short.

“Mac, give him some space. The poor thing isn’t used to people yet,” Rachel said, nudging the boy, Mac—MacKenzie, actually—away from Klancy.

“Well, he isn’t going to _get_ used to people if we all avoid him,” MacKenzie said as he obediently backed away and gave Klancy a crooked smile, revealing two perfectly placed dimples, and Klancy huffed out a laugh accompanied by a smile of his own. “See, he’s already getting used to me enough to laugh. He didn’t laugh for you, did he? That’s because he already likes me better.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Mr. Odis is probably wondering what’s taking us so long, we should get back to the manor.”

“Manor?” Klancy asked, looking up at the two slightly older children, but neither one gave a response as they left the train station and climbed into a carriage out front.

The short carriage ride was silent as they trundled through the streets, a mixture of cars, carriages, and pedestrians sharing the streets with them, until they finally pulled through a wrought-iron gate.

“It doesn’t look like much of a manor,” Klancy said as he peered out the window, his nose scrunching up in disgust.

MacKenzie rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s a manor.”  
“That shack cannot be worthy enough to be deemed a manor,” Klancy replied, looking at MacKenzie in shock. “It’s falling apart!”

“Well, now, you can’t just look at that!” MacKenzie said. “It’s huge—four stories, see!—and the grounds account for half of the land in this town. Therefore, it’s a manor.”

“I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of ‘manor’,” said Klancy, which cause MacKenzie to laugh as the carriage came to a halt right in front of the cracked steps leading up to the warped oak front door.

MacKenzie opened the door to the carriage and jumped down, holding his hand out to Klancy to help him down as well. “Come on, I’ll take you inside and give you a tour of our _lovely_ home and I’ll take you to meet Mr. Odis—he’s basically our dad, just without the whole ‘shared DNA’ thing.”

Klancy nodded and followed along behind the older boy through the halls and many flights of stairs, first stopping in what seemed to be the dining room, with a long table and dozens of chairs around it, several children sitting there eating sandwiches.

“Everyone, may I introduce to you our newest recruit,” MacKenzie said, sweeping his arms in a grand gesture like the showgirls on those television shows where contestants competed to win different prizes.

Klancy gave a small wave, feeling a little anxious about being introduced to so many people.

“Okay, so, going around the table starting with her we have Vivianne, who can reawaken the dead and possess them; Lakesly, he can control the flow of time; Michael, he can change the temperature of anything he touches; right there is Eve, who can heal anything that’s living, as long as it is still somewhat alive; Kiana can turn into water whenever she wants; Amber, that one there, she can manipulate any metal object; and Franklin, he talks to animals.”

Klancy blinked at this sudden onslaught of information, then smiled weakly. “Hi,” he said, quite unsure of what exactly he was supposed to say. Did he have to give them a name and tell them all about his power to kill anyone and anything that came near him? He didn’t even have a name, as far as he was concerned.

The girl MacKenzie had indicated as being Eve stood up and threw her red her over her shoulder with a smile then held out her hand to Klancy.

“Nice to meet you. I suppose I’ve got a bit of decent competition now, our powers being the opposite of each other and all,” she said, but it wasn’t unkind.

“Nice to meet you,” Klancy said, shaking her hand cautiously.

“Where’s everyone else?” MacKenzie asked, interrupting their awkward handshake.

“In their rooms, but Mr. Odis is waiting for you, so I wouldn’t stop to introduce them,” Eve answered.

MacKenzie nodded. “Okay. Come on then, we can finish this tour later.”

So, they left the dining area, MacKenzie in the lead, and walked down a few more halls and up a couple more flights of stairs, and then they were on the top most floor, right below the attic, and waiting in front of a door as MacKenzie knocked on it.

The man who opened the door was middle-aged with graying hair and a fine, gray suit.

“Hello, there, young man. You must be Klancy,” he said, opening the door and sweeping his arm to allow the two boys inside. “Well done, MacKenzie. Be sure to extend my thanks to Rachel, as well. Now, I must ask for a moment alone with our newest member. Just wait outside, you can show him to his room when I am done.”

“Okay, Father. Thank you, Father,” MacKenzie said. His eyes stayed averted from the man’s face the entire time as he backed out of the room and closed the door as he went.

“My name isn’t Klancy.”

The man grinned, a hint of condescension turning it ghastly. “I’m sorry, young man. What is your name, then?”

“I don’t have a name, sir.”

“Well, everyone needs a name. When I found your hospital records from your birth, the name on your birth certificate was Klancy Lucas. Is it okay if we use that as your name?”

“I guess,” Klancy said with a shrug.

“Okay,” the man said. “Now that that’s settled, let me fill you in a little on who I am and what we do here.

“My name is David Odis, but you can call me either Mr. Odis or Father.” He paused and Klancy nodded his head, the sudden onslaught of information already had him feeling a little dizzy. “This manor and the grounds it’s on has been passed down on my family for many generations and now I am using it to train young people like you. That is, children who were born with special powers and abilities that, until now, were the things of legends. Here, you will train with the other children to hone your powers until you have complete control, then, when you become old enough, you can use your powers to help people in different ways.

“Not only will you train your powers, we will also be training your mind. Schooling will be unnecessary for you and the other children here, as you may put the normal children at risk and you will learn everything you need to know here.

“Now, if you have any questions, any at all, you can ask either me or one of the other children. MacKenzie and Rachel have both offered to show you to your room. You will have about an hour to settle in and then they will come to retrieve you again before dinner. I hope you find everything here to your liking.

“MacKenzie, you can come back in here!”

The door opened again and MacKenzie stepped through, his eyes trained on the floor. “Yes, Father?”

“Would you be so kind as to show Klancy here to his room? You know the one, Eve and Amber cleaned it out just last week,” Mr. Odis said.

“Yes, Father,” MacKenzie said. He motioned for Klancy to follow him from the room and together they trekked back down the stairs, out the front door of the house, and across the soggy yard until they arrived at a dilapidated little shack.

“This is yours,” MacKenzie said. “I hope it’s okay…”  
Klancy opened the door to find a single rickety metal bed and a small wardrobe filled with identical Lycra suits, all in black with white trimming. The same exact thing Klancy had seen all of the other children wearing.

“I’ll come get you for dinner in an hour,” MacKenzie said with the faintest if smiles.

Klancy turned pleading eyes on the older boy. “Stay here, please?”

“I’m sorry… I can’t…” MacKenzie said, and with that, he backed away and shut the door, leaving Klancy to feel even more alone than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is what I have so far, plus a few paragraphs of chapter 9. I was going to have a long author's note here to talk about shit, but I need to go to bed, my nose is running and I hope its just allergies but if it's still running in the morning then I have to put it on my symptom reporting sheet and get tested so that'll be fun (not really). Anyways, I'll be finishing this eventually... its just one more work in progress that I have posted rather than just sitting in my drive (:
> 
> Kudos are always appreciated! I reply to all comments! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!  
> -2MusicLover2


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